1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a target ball game kit for providing game play on a surface; and more particularly to a target ball game kit having at least one rope/cable/flexible target assembly and a plurality of light-weight portable items needed to play a target ball game on a beach, or on a grassy area, that can easily be carried and set-up with minimal effort.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recreational sport activities are frequently played at parks, beaches, or other outside areas. However, areas remote from one's home or playground, can present an environment that creates complexities for game play, especially when a plethora of equipment is needed, as well as a playing court or target assembly.
Several games require erection of nets or boundaries. Net assembly game kit examples can be found in, U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,478 to Kessler and U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,754 to Eisenhart. These types of games are similar to volleyball, and do not involve target assemblies. Moreover, erection of nets and the like can be time consuming and requires a rather large play area, which, on a crowded beach or park, can be difficult. Also, various dart games have been provided that cannot be readily played at beach, or high traffic park, as they require a vertical surface to mount a target upon and involve throwing of sharp dart projectiles, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,374 to Lane.
Other games do not require the erection of nets or boundaries, but have flaws in that many cannot be readily transported and carried into recreational areas. For example, various game apparatuses involve bulky projectile apparatus supports for shooting a ball or missal-like projectile at a target, including, U.S. Pat. No. 1,935,370 to Nekuda and Foreign Publication No. GB2050177 to Logan. These game apparatuses do not disclose a portable game assembly housed within a kit container. At best they disclose a target, projectile, and a projectile shooting apparatus. Moreover, these game apparatuses are not feasible for use in many recreational areas as they can be quiet cumbersome to carry and transport to the beach, park or other recreational area.
Several game apparatuses heretofore disclosed and utilized are not constructed for compact storage, transport and carrying onto a beach or grassy field in a park. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 2,050,914 to Anderson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,461 to Taylor; U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,973 to Poole; U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,226 to Priestle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,549 to Kuhtic, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,635 to Hopkins; U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,042 to Demas; U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,833 to Gomez; U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,332 to McClung, et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0197197 to Scott. These bulky game apparatuses generally include rigid game boards or target assemblies that cannot be folded to facilitate portability. Further, many of these game boards and targets are constructed of heavy materials, such as wood, thereby lacking lightweight construction for carrying. Consequently, a user must carry the cumbersome, bulky game boards or targets around when visiting a recreational area, which can be quite challenging if toting other gear, such as food, towels, and the like. Moreover, these rigid game boards and targets generally cannot be utilized on a surface that is not substantially flat without irregularities, because it would cause an unstable, wobbly playing board or target.
Assorted game apparatuses do not provide a target or court assembly, but require users to draw their own lines via drawing lines in sand, paint, chalk or by using tape, including those found in: U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,121 to McKeen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,964 to Buckfield; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,619 to Leftwich.
Additional game apparatuses fail to provide a court or target assembly altogether, including, for example, the “Paddle Ball Game” found at http://www.toysplash.com/Product/PaddleBallGame which discloses paddles and a ball, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,265 to Yoo which discloses a multi-compartment bag. These types of games fail to provide a plurality of paddles and balls and further fail to provide a court/target assembly.
Even still, other game device fail to provide a plurality of game equipment and only provide a court and/or target assembly, failing to present an all inclusive game play kit. For examples, see: U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,769 to Torbett and Foreign Publication No. CA2347310 to Renaud. These game apparatuses merely provide target and/or court assemblies, and are not gaming kits that provide requisite game play equipment along with the court assembly/target assembly. Any resultant use of such game devices would require foraging for and separately toting all related playing equipment.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct game kits for set-up and play in recreational areas, there remains a need in the art for a target ball game kit that includes a plurality of gaming equipment, pieces, and a court assembly/target assembly compactly disposed in a carrying bag or container. In addition, there exists an art recognized need for a target ball game kit that includes a unilateral target assembly that can readily be placed on a surface and secured thereto to yield a game playing target. Further needed is a target ball game kit that can accommodate one, two, three or four players.